Freyja

Devotional and Research Site

The starting point:

There is a wealth of information regarding Freyja (aka - Freya)
and I'm going to try to give it all to you. From direct references
through crystal, rune, color, chakras, tarot and astrological connections.
You will see that there are definite commonalities but also differences
between authors and sources. So let's get started on our journey
with Freya -who I was 'introduced' to by Sif when I asked for help
on the next part of my developmental journey. Funny how Sif
handed me off to another Vanir Goddess. Obviously I'm being
guided to stay within the Vanir clan for my quest.

I. Who is Freyja?

According to the book The Rites of Odin by Ed Fitch (ISBN 0-87542-224-1),
Freya was the
sister of Freyr. Especially in early times, she was very all-encompassing in her attributes,
and seemed to have inherited many of them from various personifications
of the Great Goddess who far preceded the Gods of Valhalla. Freya is famed
for her great beauty, and indeed is often known as "The Fair One". In the
earlier days she also rewarded good housewives, though in later times
Frigga has become more the patron of the home.

Freya is quite independent, being chief of the Valkyries, the
demi-goddesses who select the noble and heroic dead and carry them
to the Realm of the Gods. Some of the legends say that a quarter or even
a half of the dead go to Freya. She is patroness of women who attain
wisdom, status, and power, since the Valkyries had been ordinary
women, then priestesses, and after being Valkyr became Norns, the
Great Goddesses who weave the fates and histories of people and of nations.

Freya is the Daughter of Time, as well as the patron and protectress of
the human race. On her breast she wears "the jewel whose
power cannot be resisted," Brisingamen.Brising meaning fire, specifically
the fire of the enlightened mind and men meaning jewel.
In ancient times the winter constellation which we today know as Orion was at that
time called "Freya's Gown" by the Norse and Teutons, and the sword belt
in Orion was called "Freya's Girdle."

She is as strong, beautiful and wise as any of the "Eldest Ones."

***According to Norse Mythology - The Myths and Legends of the Nordic
Gods by Arthur Cotterell, Freyja is the daughter of the sea god Njord
and sister of Freyr. She is an important fertility goddess and a member
of the Vanir, one of the 2 branches into which the Germanic gods were
divided. After a war the Vanir seem to have been supplanted by the
younger Aesir, who were led by Odin. When peace was agreed between the
two sides, Njord went with Freyr and Freyja to Asgard, where they lived
with the Aesir as a token of friendship.

Both Odin and Freyja took an interest in the heroic dead, dividing the
slain between them at the end of every battle. Odin's share went to
live in Valhalla, while Freyja's lived in her hall, Sessrumnir.

Freyja flew over the earth, sprinkling morning dew and summer
sunlight behind her. She shook spring flowers from her golden hair
and wept tears which turned to gold or to amber at sea.

It is possible that Freyja's lost husband Odur, or Od, of whom nothing
is known but his name, was in fact Odin.
For she was the goddess of lust as well as love, a suitable partner
for Odin who was the father of battles.

Freyja was said to be a sorceress who could fly in a falcon's skin and
some traditions state that on her arrival in Asgard she taught the gods
the spells and charms of the Vanir (the group of Gods and Goddesses
that is older than those of the Aesir).

Freyja's greatest treasure was the Brisings' necklace.
The Brisingamen neckalce was crafted by four dwarfs with such artistry that it glittered like a constellation of stars in the night sky. Around
Freyja's lovely neck it became an emblem of the fruits
of the heavens and earth. She in her turn, produced treasures for the
earth whenever she cried and Freyja wept profusely, especially during
her search for her husband, Odur. When her tears fell on rock, they
turned to gold. When shed at sea they turned to amber.
It is said that she obtained the necklace by sleeping with the
4 dwarfs.

***According to another source: The Magical Pantheons (ISBN:1-56718-861-3)
is says Freya, a triple goddess, had many attributes. She was considered
a goddess of fertility and of wealth, but also a goddess who went to the
land of the dead (or underworld), in the guise of a falcon. She
would return from the underworld with prophecies. From a Kabbalistic
perspective, the journey of Freya resembles the journey through Daath.
Though she has some Venusian qualities, she also has some Jovian traits as
well. She was the guardian of feminine magic who was always ready to
unleash magical forces if it please her. Freya was a skilled warrior, as well
as a goddess of love. This seems to correspond well with the name
for Chesed-Gedulah (Greatness).

***Then there's the book titled
The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe it has the
following references to Freyja:

page 64 - "...while the divine Freyja is something between a lusty giantess and a fair maiden
whose white arms light up the darkness of the underworld. Theyh are not sentimentalized
and do not become amiable figures, although they may be gift-bearers and
bring great benefits to mankind.."

page 70 - "Valhalla was never the dwelling place of the universal dead,
but intended for outstanding heroes to support Odin in the final battle
against giants and monsters, giving him a powerful reason for summoning
them to his hall and bringing their careers on earth to a close. Somewhere not far
from Asgard was Jutenheim, where dwelt the frost giants who were the enemies
of the gods, eager to rob them of their treasures, carry off the fair Freyja
and the sun and moon, and destroy Asgard and the inhabited earth. It is less clear where the Vanir dwelt, since the chief gods,
Freyr and Njord with a number of others, are represented along with the
Aesir in Asgard, but it seems probable that it was in the underworld. There is
certainly a link between the Vanir and the land spirits who dwelt in mounds and hills
and in water, supernatural beings who befriended some of the earlier settlers in Iceland and probably also between the
Vanir and the Elves, who lived on in folk tradition as lesser beings. Most
of the goddesses who became the wives of the gods came from the underworld,
and were said to be the daughters of giants. The greatest of the goddesses
was Freyja, sister of Freyr and daughter of Njord; she is a goddess of many
names, and may originally have been the same as Frigg, the wife of Odin, since
elsewhere in Germanic tradition we har only of one goddess, Frija (Frigga),
who was the wife of the sky god."

page 85- 86 - "The goddesses were clearly important in northern
religion, yet only Frigg and Freyja play any main part in the tales,
while there are brief appearances of Skadi, daughter of Thjazi the giant, Gefion, who plughed
the island of Sjaelland out of Sweden, and Idun who guarded the golden
apples; it is possible that these last two are to be identified with Freyja
under different names.

page 107 - "Freyja kept up the sacrificing, for she alone lived on after
the gods. (Ynglinga Saga 10)"

page 108 - "In Scandinavian tradition the main goddess appears to be
Freyja, sister and perhaps als obride of Freyr; the names of these two
Vanir deities are really titles, meaning "Lord" and "Lady", and Snorri
tells us that Freyja had many other names. There is also the goddess Frigg,
wife of Odin and therefore Queen of Heaven, who figures in the myths as the
weeping mother, lamenting the fall of her son Balder and later that of
Odin, her 'second woe' as Voluspa expresses it. It seems as if these two
figures with similar names may indeed be two aspects of the same deity.
Sometimes it is Freyja who is paired off with Odin in the tales and she too is
represented as a weeping goddess, shedding tears of gold; her tears serve as a favorite
poetic symbol for gold in the kennings. Why Freyja weeps is not
altogether clear; she is said to be searchign for her husband, of whom
we know nothing, but since he is called Od he may be a doublet of Odin."

page 108 - "Addional names given by Snorri to Freyja are
Mardoll, suggesting a link with the sea; Horn, thought to be related to horr,
'flax'; Gefn, which like Gefion is related to the verb 'to give'; and
Syr, 'Sow'. All these names are relevant for the understanding of her cult,
for she was connected with water and the sea, and flax was an important crop
for which her blessing was sought; she was regarded as a giving goddess,
bringing bounty to the fields, animals and mankind, while the sow was
the female counterpart of Freyr's symbol, the golden boar.

page 109 - "Again Freyja is associated with precious metals; her tears are
of gold, and she is a giving goddess, bringing prosperity and riches like her
brother Freyr and her father Njord."

II. Rune Associations

According to Gainsford and Rodway Runes are divided into
three distinct groups called aetts. Numbers 1 - 8 belong to the
Goddess Freya/Frejya (same goddess different spellings).
Fehu is the 1st rune of the 1st aett.

The goddess Freya is depicted with her falcon wings. The feathers grow from
her arms, held forward to protect yet reveal her nude feminine form. Freya
embodies the sensuality of the lover and mistress, whereas Frigg (card
number 14) represents the good wife and mother. Decorating Freya's neck and
breast is a gold necklace, an emblem of the stars and the fecundity of the
earth. Freya hovers in flight in a sky of soft clouds in which a swallow
flies high in the foreground. Beneath the goddess's wings is a spring
and flower of the elder, Fehu's tree. Emerging from the clouds is the
profile of a grey tabby's cat's head, white whiskers spread forward, its
bright-yellow eye gazing ahead. Grey cats are always associated with
Freya. At the top right hand corner of this scene is the rune Fehu
which is shown in red, the correct colour for this symbol.

According to The Rune Mysteries by Silver RavenWolf and Nigel Jackson
(ISBN: 1-56718-553-3)

Freyja (Frau Frie, Farujo) -
is the Golden Bride of the Vanir, and is the Supreme Goddess of
the Northern Mysteries, mistress of the inner seith-fire and the religion of
Wikkerie (Witchcraft). She is quite similar to Odinn, as she follows the
shamanistic ways, possesses psychic abilities, and can shapeshift. As the
goddess of love, she governs sexual attraction and emotional interaction,
and blesses them with herr Venusian energies. Freyja embodies the quality
of Sacred Heat and the warmth of the love that unites all opposites in the
world. She often appears in a wanton role in the myths. She is the Otherworld
Goddess to whose abode souls travel to be renewed after death. In mediaval
German tradition, she is Frau Fri, or Dame Venus, whose sacred mountain,
the Venusberg, was the entrance to the Elven realms, and the geomantic
Vulva of the Earth.

She is associated with the lynx, the extinct Caspian Tiger, and the
witches' cat. Freyja is said to wander at night accompanied by
silver-gray hares. Hers is the sacred necklace of gold called the Brisingamen,
the circle of sunfire whose round is the solar year. She also
possesses a shamanic Feather-Skin for traveling in the form of a hawk.
Freyja rules the constellations of the Lady's Wain (Ursa Minor) and Freyja's
Girdle (Belt of Orion).
This Goddess favors amber, and some say that the famed Brisingamen
necklace consisted of both amber and gold.

Keeping with The Rune Mysteries card deck
the card associated with her is Feoh: Cattle,
Gold.

Lore: This is the rune of fertility and wealth, cattle and gold, which
are the riches of the land and the people. Feoh represents moveable weath,
and sometimes, sexual energy. At one time, cattle provided a living for
tribal members, and were considered a form of barter. For the peoples of the
Northern Way, how many cattle one owned reflected that person's wealth and
status within the community. As time progressed, cattle were replaced
by inanimate material objects such as gold and silver.

Feoh is the primeval golden fire of creation, and represents the all-
pervading fertile force of the goddess Freyja. This is the world fire,
energizing and initiating the creative process, but which, if blocked
or constricted, can become destructive.

Depicted on the rune card of Feoh are the flames of Muspal-fire
streaming down from the sky of the southern Fire World. These are the primal
fires that bring about creation and new beginnings, that gave birth to the
genesis of the worlds. Golden and amber droplets also descend upon the earth,
representing the precious tears shed by the fertile goddess Freyja. The amber
tears are the essence of all abundant wealth.Amber also represents the wealth
of magickal spirituality in the world of the adept magickal individual.

Freyja wears a magickal necklace of amber, called Brisingamen. In the Witan-
Witch Tradition (an many other Witchcraft traditions as well) amber is worn by the
High Priestess or 3rd degree initiate to signify her capabilities as a magickal
practitioner and leader.

Lore: Cen is the rune of the brightly burning torch that lights up the hall
in the evening, whose flames represent the safe, tempered fire of the
hearth. Cen depicts the magickal-sexual heat of the goddess Freyja, which
slumbers within ourselves, waiting to be kindled. This feminine power
is termed Seid-fire or Seith-Fyr, and is the creative force of the Lady....
the word Shaman (once written as Flaman), means "keeper of the burning
fires," or "keeper of the flame." The Cen rune is a magickal heat, begetting
and shaping new creations, underlying all acts of art, craft, and magick.

In the design of the card, the Goddess Freyja is shown with her sacred cats,
the classic familiars of traditional witches. She wears the falcon feather
cloak that enables her to fly in falcon shape. Encircling her neck is the
fire necklace, Brisingamen, forged by four dwarves show at work in their
smithy, deep in the caverns. To gain this treasure, Freyja entered
into a short marriage with each dwarf. The necklace embodies the circle
of sacred fire, created as the sun passes through the four seasonal quarter.

Keywords: Physical - documents, letters, books or other recorded information,
sexual power. Mental - Insight, success, creativity. Spiritual - Enlightenment.
On a spiritual level, Cen represents the spiritual opening. In old Pagan religions, it was a symbol of royalty, aristocracy, and mystery, indicating
that the spirits guided believers along their chosen path. Therefore, it was the emblem of the Witch Queen and Wizard King.

IIa. Other Rune References

According to Northern Mysteries - Runes, Gods and Feminine Powers by Freya Aswynn:

page 10 - "On a deeper level of kenning, Fehu is related to the Vanir
deities Niord, Frey and Freyja. Niord is the god directly related to
wealth. He is the god to invoke if you need help in extricating yourself
from financial difficulties. Frey and Freyja are fertility deities directly
connected with livestock and especially with the newly born cattle in spring.
Freyja wears a necklace named Brisingamen, which is a symbol of fertility.
Tradition tells us that this necklace is of gold or amber, both costly
materials. Freyja had to earn her right to this necklace by sleeping
with 4 dwarves, who represent the 4 elements of earth, air, fire
and water which working together in balance, engender fertility. One
of Freyja's nicknames is Syr which means 'sow'. A female pig is an excellent
fertility symbol."

page 31 - "There are some German authorities, like Gorsleben, who state
that the goddess Freyja has a connection with Kenaz (aka-Cen, Ken). It
took me a long time to understand his reasoning. However, there is an
obscure link with the feminine Mysteries which can be explained in the following
way: Freyja teaches Odin seidr, which is a form of witchcraft and includes
"sex magic".

page 53 - "The element related to this rune - Jera - is earth; the gods
who are associated with it (apart from Baldur and Hodur, who have already
been mentioned) are the Vanir twins, Frey and Freyja. The Jera rune is
strongly connected with fertility, in particular the fertility of crops."

page 61 - "My research indicates that since Algiz has a female and male form, the
twins also may be male and female. The assumption that these twins are male
is probably due to the fact that most serious rune-workers have been male.
They have overlooked the possibility that the twins could be Frey and Freyja.
Alternatively, as this sign is one of the oldest of all the extant runes,
it may even represent the original twin divinity, from
which all others have been extrapolated. Other twin deities include
Niord and Nethus, and Ziu and Zisa."

page 75 - "...Ehwaz....According to Scandinavian sources, Frey, the god of male
fertility, was associated with the horse-cult, as was his sister Freyja,
the patroness of volvas. They were said to wear horse-masks and supposedly had the
ability to assume mare-shapes, in which they could roam about as 'nightmares'.

page 81 - "Laguz means sorcery, which is one of the rune's functions. Sorcery
or seidr was, in particular, practiced in the Vanir cult; It is Freyja who
introducted sorcery to the Aesir, teaching it to Odin. Laguz meaning lake, water
or sea, interpreted according to modern occult thinking may reflect the
astral substance.

page 111 - "The aett of Frey and Freyja is primarily related to practical and
mundane matters. The 2nd aett, the aett of Hagalaz, principally corresponds
to emotional matters and the 3rd aett may be used to inquire about esoteric
matters.

page 131 - "Fehu - Wealth, luck, responsibility and creative energy
are implied in Fehu. Its primary element is fire; its secondary element is
earth (fire expressed through earth). The ruling gods are the Vanir, in particular
Niord, Frey and Freyja. The gender of this rune is female. The power of Fehu gives the practitioner the initial pwoer to start a working. It contains
the power of the creative and generative aspects of fire, as opposed to the destructive
power of fire. It can be used to draw energy in for a given magical operation, and also as an energy to send, acting more or less as the moving
force behind a working.

page 133 - "Kenaz means kinship, learning and teaching - the quest
for knowledge and the passing on of this knowledge through successive
generations. The practical magical use of this rune is in gaining occult
knowledge from other planes. Kenaz can thus be used for astral or
shamanic travel, either to the higher astral worlds or to the shamanic
underworld. The way the rune is used in this context is as a beacon to light the way and enable
a safe return to everyday consciousness. Kenaz also is linked with the element
of fire, in its most beneficial form. Gods associated with this rune are
Baldur, Heimdal and the Goddess Freyja. Kenaz can be used to
expose all that is hidden.

page 139 - "Folkvang - Field of Warriors, nine castles belonging to Freyja.
Here Freyja gathers her share of the slain warriors. Freyja is one of a pair of
twins."

page 146 - "Inguz corresponds to the element of earth, fertility and the Vanir twins, Freyja and Frey.
Therefore this rune goes in the West.

According to Creed of Iron (ISBN:0-9678123-0-5) the rune associated with Freyja
is Berkano (first reference to this rune I've come across).

III. Tarot Correlations

Howard Rodway (see above for The Rune Vision Cards) did a deck
called Tarot of the Northern Shadows (ISBN 3-905219-12-3).
Now its interesting that this is the first reference I have that
Freya is associated with the High Priestess (which I think is a
correct association) because I've found that Freya is also associated
with the Magician (Haindl's deck) in Tarot (mainly because the Magician is linked
to Peoh (Fehu) and Cen (Ken) is associated with the number 6 card -
the Lovers (Haindl's deck). So, let's go through each one and see how they relate
to Freyja.

IV. Miscellaneous Associations

According to Silver RevanWolfe and Nigel Jackson Freyja
corresponds to Venus, and her sacred day is
Friday. Other accounts say that Friday is really Frigga's
day as is Venus.

However, According to a book called Creed of Iron, Freyja is
associated with Monday (Moonday - which ties in with the High Priestess
Tarot card). The pale moon representing the female energy of Freyja
controlled Moonday and the destinies of travellers at sea, who,
by wearing white garments and ornaments of silver and pearl might guarantee
a safe voyage (sic - this ties in with Niord being a God of the Sea
and that he is Freyja's Father. Also, the moon controls the seas/tides
so there is that association as well between Father and Daughter).

Also according to Creed of Iron Freya is associated with the number 9,
the color Violet, the astrological sign of Cancer (sic-another water/Niord
association). On page 118 it says
the name 'moon' means 'the measurer' or one who metes out time with her phases and
movements (sic - this reference ties into Freya as the Daughter of Time).
The word 'mon-th' in its origin means 'a measurement of the moon.'
Nine is the 'holiest of numbers and the root of psycho-cosmic powers;
it lends to any purpose. It is the number of life eternal and death enduring.
Nine transforms what it touches, yet it remains eternal within itself. Its use abounds in myth
and legend, symbolized in the Knot of the Slain and the nine worlds of the Yggdrasill.

Walpurgisnacht is known as May Eve or Beltane and according to Teutonic
mythology the ceremonies of this pagen festival were held in honor of
Frey and Freyja on April 30th. Also, Winter Nights October 14-15th
is Freyja's feast. It marks the end of the harvest, brings focus to the bounty
and honors the goddess Freyja. The cattle who could not make it through
the winter were sacraficed and the meat eaten or preserved for the winter months.

Two images follow that are quite large. One is from the often quoted
Creed of Iron book and the other is from a book called The Magical
Pantheons by Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero.

To order any of the books and thus make it possible for the authors
to continue educating the public about the Norse Pantheon, Runes,
and Tarot please go to Advanced Book Exchange or Amazon.com.
All images are the property of their owners so please don't save them
to disk and then start printing them out on color copiers selling them
without giving the graphic designer/artist or owner of the image their due.
Thanks.